Syracuse
- LeRoy only allowed Onondaga star Mike Hart to make 2 big plays running
the football Friday night (11-22). But those 2 big plays and the 4 defensive
turnovers he caused allowed the top-ranked Tigers to counter a strong
LeRoy defense and escape with a 13-10 win in the NYSPHSAA Class C semifinals.

Hart picked
off 3 Joe Shaughnessy passes and stripped the ball from Brendan Fulmer,
stopping LeRoy scoring threats. "I knew I wasn't getting it all done
on offense so I knew we had to step up on defense," Hart said. "We
relied on our defense to win the game."

Hart's biggest
plays came in the 4th quarter. With just over 5 minutes to play in the
game, the Oatkan Knights defense stopped Hart on a 4th-and-2 and took
over the ball at the Onondaga 43. But 4 straight runs resulted in only
7 yards and the Tigers had one more chance. LeRoy had a 4th-and-4 at the
37 and rather than trying a pooch punt with Fulmer, Shaughnessy tried
to run a keeper, only getting one yard.

"I did
think about punting," LeRoy coach Brian Moran said. "He might
get a few yards, but it doesn't matter where Hart is. He can score from
anywhere. If you are going to shut him down, you are going to shut him
down at the line of scrimmage. If he breaks the line of scrimmage, it
doesn't matter where he is. He can score from the 10-yard line or the
30."

It took just
one play. Hart took a handoff to the left side of the field and broke
6 tackles to 64 yards for the touchdown. "I knew I had to get in
the endzone," Hart said. "I was doing everything I could to
get in the endzone. It was great blocking down field. I broke a couple
of tackles. The line kept blocking down field and made a couple of crack
blocks and it was off to the races."

The Tigers
missed the extra point, meaning LeRoy could still tie the game with a
Fulmer field goal or win it with a touchdown. With 2:42 left in the game,
Shaughnessy and his offense started a drive from the LeRoy 28. Two straight
passes fell incomplete before the QB avoided the pass rush and scrambled
for 15 yards and a first down. Then came 2 straight first down passes
to Fulmer. Shaughnessy's next pass ended up in the hands of Hart at the
Onondaga 13-yard line to end the threat.

"I got
a little mad and a little anxious to get that first down," Shaughnessy
said. "But I really think we could have moved against them defensively.
But we didn't." Hart had just 123 yards on 27 carries before the
long TD run. Holding Hart, who had 2,482 yards on 169 carries coming into
the game, was LeRoy's best chance for the win. "I was never frustrated,"
Hart said. "It was the best game I ever played in my life. It was
not the most yards ever, but it was great competition."

Everything
started well for LeRoy in the second half. The opening drive took almost
6 minutes off the clock as the Oatkan Knights went 53 yards on 13 plays.
Shaughnessy scored the TD on a 3-yard keeper. "You could not have
drawn it up any better," Moran said. "We moved the ball well,
took time off the clock and put ourselves in a situation to go up. We
just left them too much time in the end."

After 3 turnovers
in the first half, the Oatkan Knights were fortunate to only trail 7-3
at the half. Hart made the first impact play of the game on the defensive
side of the ball. On LeRoy's third play of their first series Hart, who
matched up with Fulmer all day, picked off Shaughnessy's first passing
attempt of the game at the Onondaga 35-yard line and returned it to the
LeRoy 45.

"He
is just a great athlete," Fulmer said. "Everything he does is
out there. He tries to be the best. I'm sure whatever else he does, he
is the best. It is in his mentality." The Tigers moved the ball to
the Oatkan Knights' 28, but Jason Hodge stuffed fullback Chad Amidon at
the line of scrimmage on a 4th-and-3.

LeRoy went
3-and-out before Fulmer booted a 58-yard punt that pinned Hart and the
Tigers at the 10-yard line. Onondaga QB Ryan Hotaling hit Justin Graham
on a deep strike that he took 59 yards. Fulmer showed his speed and caught
the senior speedster at the LeRoy 35. A few plays later, Hart made his
only big run of the first half, a 25-yard cutback from the right side
of the backfield to the left that he took in to put the Tigers up 7-0.
Hart was held to 68 yards on 15 carries in the first half.

LeRoy followed
the drive with a 13-play, 80-yard drive that resulted in a 27-yard field
goal by Fulmer. Shaughnessy took a 3rd-and-inches QB sneak and bounced
to the outside for a 19-yard run to the Tigers' 6, but a sack by Kyle
Martin took LeRoy out of TD range.

Hart fumbled
the handoff 2 plays into the ensuing drive and LeRoy linebacker Tim Dieffenbacher
fell on the ball. Two plays later Hart picked off his 2nd pass of the
game in the end zone. The Tigers moved the ball 19 yards, but had to punt.
Four plays into the LeRoy drive, the Oatkan Knights made an attempt at
a big play and looked like they had it. Shaughnessy hit Fulmer with a
51-yard pass, but Hart stripped the ball and Graham returned it to the
Onondaga 42.

The Tigers
drove deep into LeRoy territory, but Joe Cosimeno picked off a Hotaling
pass and LeRoy took a knee to end the half.

Hart ended
the game with 187 yards while LeRoy struggled to run the ball. Shaughnessy
led the way with 52 yards on 11 carries and Andrew Fox rushed for 43 yards
on 8 carries. But the Onondaga defense focused on Caccamise and Joe Cosimeno,
who combined for 45 yards on 19 carries.

"If
you go back and you look at the whole game, we had to throw the ball to
get the first downs or Shaughnessy ran to get the first downs," Moran
said. "You want to take some time off the clock and get manageable
second and third down situations and throw the ball sometimes if you have
to."

LeRoy finished
the season at 11-1. Onondaga now 12-0, plays Briarcliff of Section 1 in
the state C finals, Friday, November 29th at the Carrier Dome (1 pm).

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